Rizwan hails Ayub as future Star, but Ayub stays grounded

• Mohammad Rizwan sees Saim Ayub as Pakistan’s future star.
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• Ayub acknowledges the learning path and the need for improvement.
• He aims to master all cricket formats and prioritize Test cricket.

Despite his humble nature, Saim Ayub downplays the “superstar” tag given to him by Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan, despite his own challenges with Comilla Victorians in the BPL, sees a bright future for Ayub in Pakistani cricket.

Rizwan praised Ayub during the BPL, stating that participating in leagues like the CPL and BPL would familiarize him with various conditions, thereby building his confidence and strategic insight for the national team.

“These leagues always help young players,” Rizwan commented during a BPL press conference. “We believe that Saim Ayub is the next superstar from Pakistan. If he goes to CPL or plays the BPL, he will be used to those conditions [and] get confidence from here, [read situations] well. If he learns from here, it is fantastic. He can apply it in the Pakistan team as well.”

However, Ayub stays grounded, acknowledging the steep learning path ahead and the significant enhancements required in his gameplay.

Ayub’s performance for Durdanto Dhaka did not meet expectations, as he accumulated only 77 runs in five matches, averaging 15.40.

“All I know is that I have a lot left to do at the international level,” Ayub shared with ESPNCricinfo. “I have a lot to learn. I need to improve my game a lot, which will help me dominate. I am working on those things.

“I learned a lot from failures. Top cricketers told me that you learn more from failures than you learn from success. I am happy that I got failures in my early stage. Now I know what standards I have to reach. If I had early success, I wouldn’t improve in those important areas.”

Ayub, with a clear understanding of the demands of contemporary cricket, stresses the need to master a wide array of shots across the field.

“[A range of shots] is needed in modern cricket. If there are eight zones in the field, I want to be able to hit the ball in all of them. There’s so much analysis in the game these days that you have to stay ahead of it. I want to prepare myself that way,” he expressed.

Ayub, who is passionate about all three formats, insists that his main ambition is to play Test cricket, as he believes it will boost his skills as a limited-overs player.

“I have the same level of interest in all three formats. I love Tests as much as I love playing T20Is and ODIs. I want to play all three formats. Legends play all three formats. Your white-ball game becomes slightly easier when you play red-ball cricket,” he concluded.

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